I've been following the news/rumors for the Justice League movie quite a bit the past few months. To catch you up: it's expected to release in summer 2015, and there's supposed to be a Wonder Woman movie released before that (summer 2014?) The latest rumors suggest the cast of superheroes are predictably going to be the five DC characters most people have heard of: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Notice Aquaman is conspicuously absent, which contrasts sharply with earlier rumors that the script being developed made significant use of Aquaman and Atlantis. As for who is going to be Batman, JGL is still a contender, but Armie Hamer's name has also come up a lot. Another rumor broke over the weekend that Christian Bale might actually sign up for a fourth film as Batman (wonder is JGL will turn up as Robin/Nightwing if that is true). The big news, though, is that Christopher Nolan is now in charge of all DC movies at Warner Bros. This is good news, as DC always said they were using Nolan's realistic approach to Batman (and Superman) as their inspiration for their new wave of DC movies, so that their tone and style will be very different from Disney's Marvel movies which are very much comic-booky and cartoony.

All three films have tons of comic-book elements. Plus Nolan never said he set out to make "realistic" Batman films and I don't think he was interested in that. He wanted to set these films in a world where these fantastic things would be almost believable but that doesn't mean they were meant to be "realistic" or "gritty" as is often attributed to him.

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Okay, you're absolutely correct. I should have said that his and David Goyer's initial approach to both the Batman and Superman characters has been "what if this was real?" rather than the films themselves were "realistic." But you get my point about how WB's intended approach to the DC universe is very different from Disney's approach to the Marvel universe. They're at least attempting a pretense that this world they're building is based in reality, even if it diverges from that considerably later on in development. And I never said "gritty."

weird convo. struggling to understand ideological rift between "believable" and "realistic" 'cause they strike me as synonyms. and how did he not intend for the things which characterize his work? is this pure semantics

My post was a veiled attempt to shit on TDKR once again. Nothing more. Mod realised this and came to its defense, all in vain as the movie will go down in history as the equivalent of seasons 11-onwards of The Simpsons, an utterly embarrassing ending to the franchise. So bad even the Academy ignored it despite being a box office success with supposed dramatic credibility (they did same to The Avengers but that could never be taken seriously, hence the main distinction being made here).

Sleep dude is just backing up his original assessment, which was fine, he just thinks he's being misunderstood.

thanks for the gossip column but my curiosity extended beyond social posturing. was just kinda daydreaming about the division between realism and believability, which strikes me as a p good movie conversation tbh

P's right *but not about TDKR. I guess the distinction would be this: Nolan said he wanted to create a world where things like the Batmobile would be believable but that doesn't mean he's striving for absolute reality. It's obviously heightened and has comic book elements that separate it from some of the more grounded influences it might be pulling from. But what I can't understand is how his movies get held to a standard that nobody else would dream of putting on, say, "The Avengers" in regards to plausibility/reality/etc. It's ironic that people complain that his movies are both "too serious" and also "not realistic enough." (Not necessarily putting these opinions on you two, just venting against the general internet chatter.) And the Oscars ignoring it should be further proof that it'll stand the test of time.

Quote

My pitch was always that if you can believe in the Batmobile, if you can believe in this action set piece that involves a flying vehicle in “Dark Knight Rises,” it's much more exciting if you can believe in it. The dramatic credibility of the movie that we get by casting such incredible talents and then trying to give them scenes to play, and really play the logic of it with that underpinning, all of the more fanciful elements become more fun. They're more enjoyable, and they're more intense. So, to me, those things aren't mutually exclusive. That's my honest appraisal of what we're trying to do. The entertainment, I just find a rich big movie experience. You know when Hollywood does a great big blockbuster that really wraps you up in a world, and lets you believe in extraordinary things that move you in some way, in an almost operatic sensibility? That to me is the most fun I have at the movies. And that's what I'm trying to do for the audience.

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

As expected, WB has officially set its DC superhero team-up pic to follow Zack Snyder‘s Man Of Steel and its upcoming sequel Batman vs. Superman. Snyder will take the directing reins on Justice League after helming both previous films in the superhero series, WSJ confirms. Justice League will star Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in the roles they’ve been tapped to fill for the Man of Steel sequel which is set to hit theaters on May 6, 2016. Justice League has no set release date yet.

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” - Andy Warhol

okay i watched the trailer and i'm pumped. i'm going to stop watching and reading things about this movie, which i've already decided will be the comic book movie i see this year. so starting now i'd like to save surprises for myself. the last dc movie i saw was The Dark Knight Rises, and that's because i was tricked. the last Zack Snyder movie i saw was Sucker Punch, that's because i own it, i adore it. Sucker Punch is the closest thing i've seen to an eastern-european type fantasy movie from hollywood. all the bells and whistles of hollywood, all the internal mania of eastern-eupropean fantasy movies. his story idea. he was raised in connecticut as a christian scientist and basically i find him fully astonishing. i think Joss Whedon will treat both him and Justice League with respect.

so i'm really excited and like i was alluding to, i won't be back in this thread until after i see the movie. it's all surprises for me from here

This movie looks bad. No comment or interest in Zack Snyder but if Joss Whedon can work his rewrite and re-shoot magic, the film will be moving rotation of moments for every character looking cool and invincible in some underhanded moment of cute dialogue with some unsuspecting foe followed by them looking cool and invincible in some extreme action moment against either same foe or new one. The carousel will keep turning until the film gets to a point where all the characters will have to band together to look cool and invincible in some crazy moment against a foe seemingly invincible. Any other story in the film will be a long line of references to the other films or deeper comic book lore. These movies are bad enough that they are beyond relying on being good or well done in general film terms, they're instead relying on how far they can stretch pleasing the comic book crowd. If I was a fan of the comics, I would want what was good about the comics to just exist in the realm of comics and let the films be just films. Adaptation shouldn't have so much bending over and groveling as comic book movies try to do for comic stories.